Illuminated copy holder



Aug. 17, 1965 J, D. ODONNELL 3,201,573

ILLUMINATED COPY HOLDER Filed Sept. 21, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. JAMES D. O'DONNELL wxm - Aug. 17, 1965 J. D. ODONNELL 3,201,578

ILLUMINATED COPY HOLDER Filed Sept. 21, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. J4 M55 0. O'DONN'ELL A T TORN 5.

Aug. 17, 1965 J. D. O'DONNELL 3,201,578

ILLUMINATED COPY HOLDER Filed Sept. 21,1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVEN TOR. JAMES D. O'HONNELL WZQ H.

United States Patent 3,2tlL57S l'LLUh'ilNATED CQPY HQLDER James D. ODonnell, 1%5 79th St, Jackson Heights, N.Y. Filed Sept. 21, 162, Sier. No. 225,43ll i Qilaim. (til. ass-2 The present invention relates to copy holders and more particularly to a copy holder providing illumination to the paper being copied.

Copy holding machines are used by stenographers, and others, who transcribe or copy matter from a written or printed sheet to a sheet inserted in a typewriter. The machines hold the sheets to be copied and either move them past a fixed marker, or else move the marker, so that the marker progresses relative to the sheet a line at a time. Generally, the speed of the movement is con trolled by the typist.

Copy holding machines of this type have not found the wide acceptance that their utility and low cost per year of operation would seem to dictate. The reason for such non-acceptance has been diificult to fathom. It is suggested by the present invention that it is due to the lack of proper and suflicient light on the page to be copied. This lack of illumination is not solved by the use of the lamp, for example a goosenech lamp, positioned above the copy holding machine, because such an arrangement, in addition to being cumbersome, unsightly, distracting to others, and expensive, causes glare in the typists eyes, resulting in fatigue.

It is the objective of the present invention to provide a copy holding machine which holds the pages to be copied; moves the pages relative to a marker under the control of the typist; and which illuminates the material to be copied without glare to the typist.

in accordance with the present invention, a copy holder is provided having brackets on the front of the holder onto which a light source and a shade is mounted. In one embodiment the shade covers the source so that the light shines only upward on the copy. In another, and preferred, embodiment, the light shines upward on the copy the light is also positioned relative to the typewriter so that it also shines directly downward on the typewriter platen. The direction and strength of the light source is important, as it should illuminate the material to be copied and the typewriter platen, but it should not reflect or glare into the typists eyes. in the present invention, the line being copied is only a fraction of an inch from the lamp, so that a soft and inexpensive light is used which yet provides strong illumination of the line.

Other objectives of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of two preferred embodiments in view of the accompanying drawings, in which:

PEG. 1 is a front perspective View of the first embodiment of the invention;

PEG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

PEG. 3 is a side illustration showing the light path of the lamp of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

F26. 4 is a side perspective view of the second embodiment of the present invention with a typewriter shown in outline form;

FIG. 5 is a side illustration of the light paths of the lamp of the embodiment of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a detail view, in perspective, of a portion of the mechanism of both embodiments.

Referring to the drawings, in FIG. 1 the base 1 is a flat piece of metal having a flange 2. The bottom rear of the typewriter (not shown in FIGS. 13) rests upon base i. is connected to flange 2 A lever mechanism a by bolt i. Mechanism 3 has a forwardly extending lever ice arm 5 having a finger piece 6 attached to it. The flange 2 has an elongated opening 7 through which Wing bolt 8 adjustably connects the flange 9 of the base member 14) to flange 2. The legs ill, for example of metal tubes, are fixed to base member ill. Base member It) is pivotally connected, by connecting piece 12 at the side opposite flange 2. and by wing bolt 8, to the base 1.

A pair of thumb screws 15, having their shanks mounted in rings lo (see FIG. 2) adjust the height of the copy holding portion of the machine. The screws 15 are urged against the legs 11, the legs sliding within hollow leg tubes 11a. The rings 16 are integral with the tubes llla. A support member 18 is connected to tubes 11a. A curved plate lb is also attached to support member 18 by screws 2% and guides the pages in the machine over the plate to behind the machine. A rod 21 revolves in holes in support member l d and has end nuts 23 to hold it in position. The purposes of rod 21 are to provide a pivot at its end and also, by means of spring 41 and rod 42, to urge shade member against the front of support member 22.

The front support member 22. is adjustably held by the end nuts 23. Member 22 has holes. 24 within which shaft 25 rotates. A plurality of rubber Wheels 25 is mounted on shaft 25 and turns with it, the wheels being positioned to protrude from openings 27 in member 22. The clutch mechanism 14 is also mounted on shaft 25. A flexible metal wire, encased in flexible sheath 13, connects the lever mechanism to the clutch mechanism 14, so that depression of the lever turns shaft 25. The clutch mechanism may be set to turn shaft 25 one, two, three or four spaces upon depression of lever 5. The internal mechanism of the clutch and the lever mechanism are not described herein, as they are well known in the art. For example, US. Patent 2,095,904 describes one example of this type of clutch and lever mechanism.

A thin bent rod 2% is rotatably attached at both its ends to member 22 and swivels above member 22 to hold copy paper down. A pair of flat elongated metal fingers 29' is rotatab-ly attached to member 22 to provide, in their raised position, a raised support for books.

An elongated shade member 3%), having a silvered or otherwise reflective interior surface, is mounted by its two integral flanges 37. to member 22 so that the shade may be pivoted outward by .its attached handles 31a. A marker 32, having lined spaces, is removably attached, for example by spring clips, to the top of shade 3i).

A lamp, for example a thin fluorescent bulb or an incandescent bulb, is mounted on the inside of shade 3i A freely rotatable roller li! is also mounted on the inside of shade (see FIG. 6) so that the bulb is between the interior of the shade and the roller. The page to be copied passes between the roller 4% and support 22 and is urged upward by the controlled rotation of rubber wheels 2d. The roller 4% urges the page against wheels 26 because the roller is urged against the page by spring 41.

The fluorescent lamp is preferred as it is brighter and does not heat up any part of the mechanism. A suitable bulb is General Electric 6 watt daylight lamp, their catalog N0. ssrscw. Preferably the bulb is less than 20 watts. A suitable transformer is Robertson Catalog No. P61l8 -6W-l5 amp, of Robertson Transformer Co. The transformer is preferably mounted in the electric plug, i.e., Robertsons case style H. A switch 33 is attached to one of the legs and the electric cord prefer-ably runs inside one of the legs.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3 the shade 3% covers the bottom, front and sides of the bulb so that the only path (ray) of light 35 escaping is directed upward at the page to be copied and illuminates preferably about three inches of the page. As shown in FIG. 3 such light is reflected from the copy at path 36 well above the typists the typewriters platen, as Well as upward. The support 22' extend-s, in this embodiment, at least three inches parallel to base 10, beyond legs 11, so that the lamp is directly over the typewriters platen. The paths 35 and 36 of FIG. are the same as those of FIG. 3, and the downward path of light 39 is reflected above the typists head at path 38.

The lamp is only a fraction of an inch from the line being copied so that a small bulb, which uses very little electricity and is long lasting, may be used. Such a small bulb gives a soft non-glaring light. The small bulb is suflicient because of the closeness of the copy, illumination decreasing as the square power as a function of distance.

I claim:

A copy holding device including a flat base, a leg member pivotally connected to the a shade member connected to the support member, an elongated bulb of less than 20 watts power mounted on the shade so that it is positioned between the shade and the support, and means to supply electric power to the bulb,

,W-herein theshade covers the bulb except for light in the upward and the directly downward directions, the

downward light falls only on the platen of a typewriter placed on the base, and the paper is moved between the bulb and the Support by the roller.

References Cited. by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 513,113 1/94 Kelly 240-4 2,060,660 1 1 3 6 Carpenter. 2,095,904 10/37 Baughan -32 2,193,220 3/40 Boyd 120-31 2,275 ,5 62 3 /42 Shantz 240-2 2,295,210 9/ 42 Gutensohn 240-2 2,744,498 5/56 Seaver 120-32 2,850,622 9/58 Johnson 240-81 FOREIGN PATENTS 282,785 3/28 Great Britain.

NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner. 

